Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-11-19

Gagley--I hear your son has gone into
Journalism, madam.
Mrs Malaprop-Y Yes; he's contortionist
for the comic papers.
Gagley--H'mi Trying to make both ends
meet, / supposeETid Bits
The Fate Element In Men OF Eminent
Mark--Lincoln's Prescntiment.
One might roughly indicate the difference
between ordinary men and men of eminent
mark by referring to their relative possession
of a consciousness of destiny. So often has
sense of being set apart and devoted 70 some
thing accompanied great capacity that 1t
would seem TO 10 a natural and legitimate
help to the carrying out Of any arduous
undertaking. Schopenbauer declares that
no one can be blind to his own merit any
more than the man who is six feet high can
remain ignorant Of the fact that he towers
above his fellows He notes the pride with
which Horace, Lucretius, Ovid, Dante,
Shakespeare and Bacon have spoken of them
selves, and quotes the Englishman who wit
tily observed that merit and modesty have
nothing in common except the initial letter.
81 have always a suspicion about modest
celebrities" he adds, "that they may be
right" Goethe has frankly said: "Only
good for nothings are modest II begin
with this he told his mother as small boy.
"L.ater on in life shall distinguish myself in
far other ways
The fact is that as long as he lived Goethe
believed in oracles, and was as willing as
Rousseau to trust his fortunes to the merest
PROCESSES of chance. Rousseau was To be saved
in the other world If the stone he threw hit
the tree at which it was aimed, and had
Goethe caught the plunge OF the valuable
pocket knife which he tossed into the river
Lain from behind the bushes where he stood
he might have become a painter instead OF
poet. There may be divinity that shapes
the ends of all men, but only the exceptional
individual seems at all conscious of the fact
or in the way Of turning it 10 practical ac-
count by actually relying upon it in daily
life Thes it comes about that demonic men,
men of a definite bent and direction which
they cannot resist, are given TO trusting more
than those whose standpoint is merely per-
sonal and commonplace. Greene, the histo-
rian, tells us that Elizabeth had, as all strong
natures hive, an unbounded confidence IN
her luck. ''ller majesty counts much on For
tune" Wals.ngham wrote bitterly" ~ wish
she would trust more in Almighty God"
Lincoln never for an instant doubted that
he w. formed for some great on miserable
end" aEd neely talked about the impression
TO ;...s e.gcce, which had been with him all bis
life, and which, after-the year 1910, assumed
the character OF positive conviction. His
biographer asserts that this presentiment
was as clear and certain as any image CON
yeyed by the senses ''The star under which
he was born was at once brilliant and malig-
nant The horoscope was cast fixed, ire
versible, and he had no more power to divert
it in the minutest particular than he had to
reverse the law Of gravitation" Substitute
the word providence for fate, and many
other instances OF this higher sort Of conf
dence might be adduced, showing how large
an influence trust has had in human success.
1t went into exile with Luther and sustained
Carlyle in sickness and neglect In a gener-
al way, it is to be doubted If any one has
ever reached very eminent station in life
without something of this feeling in the atti-
tude which he has assumed toward his work.
Atlantic Monthly.